Just a year after two students in Stavanger launched the idea of constructing inexpensive student housing in used shipping containers, the first models are up and open in the Norwegian oil capital.
Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) reported that the unusual housing units ended up being more expensive to mount, make habitable and furnish, with the first six stacked two-by-two costing around NOK 3.6 million. “You can say that we have used NOK 600,000 (about USD 100,000) for each bed, but the student housing agency (studentsamskipnaden) builds for NOK 750,000 when they get funding from the state,” Kristoffer Sørstrønen told DN. He and Magnus Meisal, aged 26 and 25 respectively, are the young entrepreneurs behind the novel housing project.
The units are also much bigger than conventional student housing but are expected to cost around NOK 4,000 a month to rent. The pair had hoped for half that, but still think there’s potential for “mass-production” of the housing in used containers. Demand for housing is high among students all over Norway.
newsinenglish.no staff
